Typically, produce is harvested, trimmed, and packed into produce boxes that are vertically stacked on pallets ready for transport to market, all of which occurs in the field. Broccoli crowns, heads, bunches and florets, for example, are typically harvested, trimmed, and packed into a 22-pound produce box provided with a hand hole at the top of each end. The 22-pound produce boxes are then stacked onto pallets. A typical broccoli pallet is 40".times.48" and will have 48 of the 22-pound broccoli boxes stacked 8 square and 6 high, with one hand hold per box exposed on one of two opposite sides of the stack. When a broccoli pallet is fully loaded, the pallet is moved from the field to a cooling station where the produce boxes are typically injected with ice water slurries to reduce field heat residing within the processed broccoli. The broccoli pallets are then loaded onto transporters for shipment to market.
Moving broccoli from the field to market can take as long as one week in U.S. markets, and as long as two and one-half weeks in overseas markets, such as the Orient, for example. During the course of shipping processed broccoli to market through the various existing channels of distribution, it is probable that the broccoli will experience some temperature abuse. Temperature abuse typically begins to occur whenever processed broccoli is exposed to storage temperatures that are above 35.degree. F., which is the optimum storage temperature at which processed broccoli will retain good color, odor, and taste for a period of three weeks or more. When storage temperatures exceed the 35.degree. F. optimum, however, processed broccoli will begin to show signs of degradation. Degradation might include yellowing of the flower (the buds begin to open), discoloration of the cut end of the butt, blotches on the stalk, flaccidness in the laterals and stalk, off-odors, and a loss of taste (blandness).
Degradation of processed broccoli due to temperature abuse can be retarded through the use of commercially available processing aids. One such processing aid is the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid of EPL Technologies, Inc., 2 International Plaza Suite 245, Philadelphia, Pa. 19113. The BROCOLLI FRESH brand processing aid was developed by EPL Technologies, Inc., to provide processed broccoli with a measure of safety against abusive temperature conditions. Processed broccoli that has been treated with the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid has retained good quality attributes at temperatures as high as 50.degree. F. for extended periods of time (about 14 days).
Heretofore, the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid in solution has been manually sprayed onto freshly processed broccoli in metered amounts after the broccoli has been packed into the typical 22-pound produce box. Spraying was accomplished one box at a time, as the boxes were assembled and packed in the field. This method of administering the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid has proven to be somewhat cumbersome and at times unsanitary. Several large 5 or 6-gallon containers of the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid in solution had to be hand carried into the field each day. The containers were lifted onto rigs and the contents of the large containers were poured from the large containers into small hand-held sprayers. The hand-held sprayers had to be calibrated. Each box of processed broccoli was sprayed individually for a given number of seconds that coincided with the calibrated time required to dispense about 4 ounces of the BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aid solution per 22-pound produce box. Furthermore, at the start of each day, the several large containers and the numerous hand-held sprayers had to be washed with chlorine and rinsed well before being put into use.
All of the manual labor involved in cleaning containers, mixing solutions, carrying solutions to the fields, etc., was viewed as being unsatisfactory by those who were directly involved in the day-to-day application of BROCCOLI FRESH brand processing aids to processed broccoli. For these reasons, another approach for administering BROCCOLI FRESH brand and other similar processing aids to harvested broccoli, and other harvested produce, was sought that would be less labor intensive and more sanitary.